Chargers beat Eagles on late field goal

And with 1:55 to go, Philip Rivers did what he had been doing all afternoon.

He picked the Eagles' defense apart.

Rivers was 4-of-5 for 48 yards on the Chargers' final drive before Nick Novak
booted through a go-ahead 46-yard field goal with seven seconds left to lift
San Diego past Philadelphia, 33-30, to spoil Kelly's home debut.

Rivers, who threw for 419 yards on 36-of-47 passing with three touchdowns --
all to Eddie Royal --, got the ball back after Alex Henery kicked the game-
tying field goal. He hit Antonio Gates for gains of 15 and 21 yards on the
first two plays of the trek.

Danny Woodhead hauled in a critical 6-yard reception to move the sticks on a
3rd-and-4 at the Philadelphia 37-yard line. Novak split the uprights four
plays later.

Royal, who already has five touchdown catches this season, caught seven passes
for 90 yards for San Diego (1-1), which blew a 21-point second-half lead in
its opener Monday against the Houston Texans.

Rivers was just 1-of-7 for eight yards with an interception in the fourth
quarter against Houston Monday, but was 12-of-16 for 113 yards in the final
frame against Philly.

Antonio Gates had eight receptions for 124 yards and Ryan Mathews ran for 73
yards on 16 carries in the triumph.

San Diego won the possession battle, 40:17-19:43, in a game that saw San Diego
accumulate 539 of the 1,050 yards the teams combined for.

The Chargers were 10-of-15 on third down.

San Diego wide receiver Malcom Floyd was carried out on a stretcher following
the first offensive play of the third quarter. Floyd, who tallied 102 yards
receiving on five receptions in the first half, snatched a pass over the
middle that was knocked out by the Eagles' Nate Allen and DeMeco Ryans when
they sandwiched him.

Both teams took a knee around Floyd as he was being put on a stretcher and
gathered around him as he was being taken off the field.

"All the tests right now look good, so it's great for the organization to go
out and get a win for Malcom," McCoy said of Floyd.

Michael Vick had a career-high 428 yards passing with a pair of touchdown
passes, while DeSean Jackson hauled in nine balls for 193 yards for the Eagles
(1-1), who ran 59 total plays after totaling 53 in the first half of their
33-27 triumph over the Washington Redskins on Monday night.

"It doesn't matter how we score as long as we score," Kelly said. "I still
think we left too many opportunities offensively out there."

LeSean McCoy registered 114 yards receiving on five catches and ran for 53
yards on 11 totes in defeat.

After Royal took a wide receiver screen 15 yards for a score to give the
Chargers a 30-27 edge with 3:17 to go, Philadelphia answered by briskly moving
the ball down the field.

Following an incompletion on the first play of the march, Vick hit McCoy for a
gain of 11, scrambled for 11 yards, and then flipped two completions to
Jackson for gains of 10 and 25 yards, respectively, to move the ball to the
San Diego 14 with 2:09 on the clock.

Vick then took a hard shot on 1st-and-10 on an incompletion to Brent Celek and
was forced to miss a play. Nick Foles' fade pass to the back right corner of
the end zone was overthrown and Vick, who came back in for third down,
fired incomplete to Avant.

Earlier, after Novak and Henery exchanged field goals of 49 and 25 yards,
respectively in the first, the Chargers scored 10 straight. Rivers found Royal
for an 11-yard score early in the second before Novak booted through a 44-
yarder on San Diego's next touch to make it 13-3 midway through the stanza.

The Eagles quickly countered in four plays as Jackson hauled in receptions of
17 and 41 yards on the first two plays before Vick hit Riley Cooper on a seam
route for a 13-yard score to complete the 75-yard sequence.

San Diego had opportunities to put two more touchdowns on the board before the
break, but fumbled twice inside the Eagles' 10-yard line.

Brandon Boykin slapped the ball out of Gates' hands from behind on the first
turnover after Gates rumbled down to the 2-yard line following a pickup of 24
yards.

The Eagles then went three-and-out, but Ronnie Brown put the ball on the
ground at the Philadelphia 8-yard line as the hosts recovered the pigskin with
52 ticks in the half. The Eagles moved down the field, but Henery missed wide
right from 46 yards out.

Rivers picked up three critical third downs on San Diego's opening drive of
the third. He moved the chains on 3rd-and-8 with an 18-yard completion to
Keenan Allen, 3rd-and-7 with a 21-yard hookup to Royal and found Royal again
on a 3rd-and-10 to cap it with a 24-yard score to make it 20-10 in favor of
the Bolts.

The Eagles, though, tallied 10 unanswered. Henery hit a 48-yard field goal,
and after San Diego went three-and-out, Vick lofted a 61-yard touchdown pass
to Jackson along the right sideline two plays later to knot the tilt.

San Diego then used 17 plays to move 73 yards in an elongated 8:55 drive,
which culminated with Novak's 33-yard field goal.

Philly again answered as Vick scrambled in from two yards out to complete a
10-play, 76-yard sequence to give the hosts a 27-23 edge midway through the
fourth.

Fozzy Whittaker fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but Henery was unable to fall on
top of it as it slipped through his hands. The Chargers recovered the ball in
Eagles territory at their 39-yard line before they scored a few plays later.

Game Notes

The Chargers ran 79 total offensive plays ... Philadelphia was limited to 11
possessions after having the ball 14 times Monday ... The Eagles were
penalized nine times for 82 yards.

241roots

KingHockeyMan Last second game "winning" field goals have been HUGE in this short NFL regular season. PEACE!